7 card hi-lo poker - Rankings: Lo hand

The deciding factor in declaring a winner between Lo hands is the value of the highest card in each players’ hand.

To put it another way, it is the hand with the lowest ranked high card that wins. For example a Lo hand of A, 2, 3, 4, 7, loses to a Low hand of A, 3, 4, 5, 6, since the 6 is lower than the 7.

If both high cards are the same value, then the next lowest card in each hand is used to determine a winner. For instance a Lo hand of 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 beats a Lo hand of Ace, 2, 3, 6, 7, because the 5 is lower than the 6.

Flushes and Straights that do not have a high card ranked above Eight can not be played as a Lo hand as well as a high hand.

The exception to this rule is a Straight Flush composed of the cards Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, which is the best possible Lo hand a player can have. If a player has such a hand, it is very likely they will win the Lo pot and probably the Hi pot as well.

This is the only time possible when a player can use the same hand to play for both the Hi and Lo pots. In all other cases, a player can still play for both pots, but must use a different set of 5 cards.